II Keicho Award: CEJE and CEOE reward Iberia and Nissan companies

• Yesterday, Spain’s Minister of Development, Íñigo de la Serna, awarded two prizes during the celebration of the 2nd Gala of the Japan-Spain Business Circle and the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations
• The award ceremony was attended by 170 high-levelrepresentatives of institutions and of prominent Spanish and Japanese companies.

Yesterday, the Iberia and Nissan companies were awarded the Keicho Prizes for Innovation and Technology by the Japan-Spain Business Circle (CEJE) and the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE). These prizes recognize two companies, one Spanish and one Japanese, that promote innovation and technology in their respective industries and that contribute to business development between Japan and Spain.

Spain’s Minister of Development, Íñigo de la Serna, awarded the two prizes during the 2nd CEJE-CEOE Gala Event, which brought together more than 170 high-level representatives Spanish and Japanese institutions and prominent companies at the Hotel Westin Palace in Madrid. The second annual awarding of the Keicho Prizes was held under the Honorary Presidency of His Majesty, King Felipe VI.

The gala is the culmination of the annual activities of CEJE, an organization that works to strengthen bilateral economic relations between Japan and Spain, as well as to create a supporting structure of initiatives, resources, and relations among institutions, Japanese companies established in Spain, and Spanish companies with an interest in Japan. It also promotes contacts between the two business communities and the dissemination of their company cultures.

Jorge Lasheras, the chairman of CEJE, emphasized the importance of the Keicho Prizes which, as he explained,“seek to showcase and recognize two great brands which, year after year, excel in terms of innovation and the incorporation of technology in their respective business activities, helping to strengthen relations between Japan and Spain.” Lasheras also stated that this second CEJE-CEOE gala event “seeks to send a message of cooperation and teamwork, to demonstrate the potential that exists between the two countries.”. Also speaking at the event were Antonio Garamendi, Vice-President of CEOE and Chairman of the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CEPYME), and Masashi Mizukami, the Japanese Ambassador to Spain. 

The 2nd CEJE-CEOE was a prelude to next year’s celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic and Trade Relations between Japan and Spain, which were made official with the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Trade, and Navigation between the two countries on November 12, 1868.